This is a great honor for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine because the first among all the patriarchs of the Orthodox world visited the country, OCU priest, Father Oleksandr (Horay), told Gazeta.ua. He added that the visit and joint worship will serve as an impetus for the OCU recognition by other Local Churches.
“The visit brought us joy and communication. All those who took part in the joint liturgy with the Patriarchate joined the Eucharistic unity with other Orthodox churches. This is the evidence of unity of all the churches of the world. It has been officially recognized and openly proclaimed to the whole world. For other churches that are yet to recognize the autocephaly of the Ukrainian church, this is a signal to officially recognize it through a decision of their church bodies.”
Patriarch Bartholomew arrived on August 20 and partook in 30 events in Ukraine within a four-day stay, a spokesman for the OCU said. This is about seven to eight events per day.
On the territory outside St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Epifaniy co-led a liturgy. This is the first time Bartholomew visited Ukraine after the local church received the tomos of autocephaly. In addition, Bartholomew held a prayer of thanksgiving in St. Michael’s Cathedral.
The Ecumenical Patriarch attended the Fourth International Veterans and Volunteer Forum. He also met with members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which unites all major denominations in Ukraine.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew took off for Istanbul on the evening of August 24. Before leaving, he blessed all Ukrainians. According to the OCU spokesman, Patriarch Bartholomew flew off very inspired, and all obstacles to his visit that the ROCinU had been plotting were assessed as Moscow antics.
